Dry Bones Breathe: Gay Men Creating Post-AIDS Identities and Cultures (Haworth Gay & Lesbian Studies)

Rating:
Summary: Good message - bad messenger.
Review: In addition to authoring a well-reasoned argument for declaring an end to the AIDS "crisis," Rofes offers a spirited rebuttal of Signorile, Rotello, Kramer et al. It's too bad he's so militantly self-important about it. Incredibly, one (long) chapter describes the terrible dilemma he faced having to choose between UC Berkeley and Harvard. He then goes on to denounce his opponents as "privileged"! The odd Biblical reference in the title makes a little more sense once you get to the part where Rofes calls for a gay version of Promise Keepers. It's easy to picture the author fantasizing about pushing Signorile, Rotello and Kramer out of the way so that he can once and for all be recognized as the true gay Moses.

Rating:
Summary: Truly smart writing about gay culture.
Review: Rofes look at gay life and culture--including his own--is the most refreshing take on gay male sexuality I have read in ten years. Yes, he takes on other gay writers, but he takes on their ideas, he doesn't attack them. His insights into the AIDS crisis, and how gay men are adjusting to a post-crisis era, are profoundly moving. I would recommend this book to anyone who's had it with scoldings from gay white puritans and reactive posturing of gay radicals. Rofes occupies the sensible center of the new sex wars, and does so with grace, tact, and style. A very important book.